A K-pop star has been forced to apologise after furious fans branded her a “traitor” – because she has a boyfriend.
The fans allegedly drove a truck to pop star Karina’s agency after discovering she was dating actor Lee Jae-wook.
“Is the love given to you by your fans not enough?” an electronic billboard on the vehicle blasted.
In a letter posted on Instagram, the aespa leader pledged “to heal the wounds” she had caused.
“I apologise for shocking you deeply,” the 23-year-old wrote, promising to show a “more grown-up and diligent side” in future. The singer, real name Yu Ji-min, has fronted the four-woman aespa since their debut in 2020, with the single Black Mamba. Last year, their smash-hit album My World sold 2.1m copies in South Korea.
This is not a rare case, however. Pop stars in South Korea and Japan work in a notoriously demanding industries, where such personal revelations can be risky to handle.
Just a decade ago, it was normal for K-pop agencies to ban new stars from dating or even having a personal mobile phone, and even now confessions of romantic relationships were often seen as scandalous to fans.